


Achromatic

by Bounemr



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5912782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bounemr/pseuds/Bounemr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the death of Adrien Agreste, Ladybug soon finds herself with a new Chat Noir. This one-shot follows her as she mourns and deals with this new black cat working alongside her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Achromatic

**Author's Note:**

> In case it wasn’t obvious, this is angst. I wrote it as practice with mourning, so just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Lives are short.

Ladybug had come to that conclusion a long time ago. Some lives though were far too short. So short that Ladybug found her patience with the world, with the universe, with _them_ , always seemed to mimic those lives.

She didn’t hate them. Not really. She wasn’t sure she could ever truly hate Chat Noir, even if it wasn’t her precious Adrien behind the mask any longer. But still, looking at that familiar black suit was sometimes too much for her.

“Bug, the bangle!” They called. Ladybug zeroed in on the ornate bangle on the newest akuma’s wrist.

She wasted no time using her Lucky Charm, nor in ordering her partner to use their power the moment she figured out what to do.

Ladybug didn’t like to waste time.

Chat Noir whistled, watching (as always) with awe as Ladybug’s powers repaired their environment. “I’ll never get tired of that. You’re really something else, you know that?”

It almost surprised her when she looked over and saw muted brown hair instead of radiant gold.

“I’ll see you next time.” She said dismissively.

“What? Hey! Can’t we at least hang out for a min-”

“I have to _go_ , kid.”

“Wait!” Ladybug felt a hand wrap around her wrist as she turned away. She immediately tensed and yanked her hand away. Chat Noir raised their hands pleadingly. “Look I just want to tell you that…” They shook their head, looking at the ground instead of her. “I understand that you don’t like me. I don’t pretend to think I can ever really live up to your Chat. But… thank you for giving me the chance. For teaching me. I really am proud to fight by your side.” They were breathing heavily from the fight and were gently massaging their own shoulder, which had taken a hit, but they smiled brightly nonetheless.

Ladybug gritted her teeth and spun on her heel, leaving as quickly as possible.  
_  
_

_That kid thinks they can just… ugh! Stopping me just to say something dumb and sappy like that. God, what do they think this is a game?_ She stewed in her ire the entire way back to her bakery and then some.

Alya relaxed on her bed as she transformed back and told her the short version of what happened. “Oh come on, Mari, Chat was just be-”

“They aren’t Chat Noir.” Marinette snapped, folding her arms defensively as she felt something in her chest quiver.

“The kid was just being nice.” Alya sighed.

“They should have found a better time to do something like that.”

“Like when, Mari? You never stop anymore. I’ve seen you on patrol. If you aren’t training them you’re leaving them in the dust.”

“They should learn to keep up then.” She growled.

“Look Mari, you can’t keep comparing them to Adrien. You have years more experience than they do, you can’t expect them to match you all the time.”

“If they can’t keep up then maybe they shouldn’t wear his uniform!”

“Hey!” Alya scowled, rising from the bed to stand at eye level with her. “You know I support you Mari, but you _need_ to cut the kid a break. They _aren’t_ him, okay? They can’t do everything he did.”

Marinette glared hard at her best friend. “Oh, trust me, I know.”

“And as their partner, you need to know their limits. You can’t keep pushing them, or they’ll end up like him.”

“Don’t you _dare_ even say that.” Marinette clenched her jaw and curled her hands into fists. “I’m only doing what I am to protect them. If they can’t keep up, then they should give up. If I don’t push them to get better, then they’ll… They’ll…”

“Shh, girl, I’m just saying.” Marinette buried her face into Alya’s shoulder when she hugged her tight. “Even I can tell you’re pushing them too hard. They’re exhausted. Give them a break.”

Marinette gritted her teeth, but accepted her friend’s words.

 

* * *

 

 

School was quiet. It always was those days. Everyone still felt the loss of their classmate. In a way, the atmosphere there was more tense than sad. It was almost like everyone was too afraid to be happy after what had happened, so they all quietly shuffle in, do their work, and shuffle out.

Nino, of course, had an especially difficult time. From her seat behind him, Marinette wasn’t able to tell much, but her eyes were always drawn to the bracelets on his wrists. On his right (The side where Adrien should have been sitting) were three bracelets, yellow, green, and purple respectively, and on his left were two, one black and one gold.

He didn’t talk to Marinette anymore. The only one he’d even look up for was Alya. He just put on his headphones, buried his head into his desk, and ignored them all. Their teacher never seemed to mind much.

Marinette remembered when she’d softly chastise Nino for not paying attention.

Marinette remembered when she cried over a young boy, carried in by Ladybug right after an akuma attack, because he needed help, and Ladybug knew better than to take him to his house.

In that moment, Marinette remembered how the world fell away, how all she could register was the bright, oversaturated colors of the classroom and how the sunlight came slanting through the windows.

“I didn’t know where to go.” Was all she could murmur. _He doesn’t have any other home._

The teacher told her she did all she could, that Ladybug had done the right thing, bringing him in, even though she was cradling him to her chest while all Ladybug could do was stare and tremble.

Marinette remembered the red, darker, more crimson than her suit (but somehow far, far more vibrant), staining the teacher’s white and pastel outfit.

She remembered Plagg’s tiny body refusing to move from his spot, pressed into Adrien’s neck, until she walked into the school building and grabbed him, struggling and screaming, and covered him in her hands so no one would see him. She sat there on the tile next to Adrien, cupping Plagg gently as he shook and cried.

She remembered how pale and how cold Adrien’s hand was when she slipped the ring off his finger, and how still he was when she kissed his forehead before she turned around and ran away.

She remembered the expressions on each and every one of her classmate’s faces. Terror, anger, shock.

Marinette was shocked out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. “Marinette, do you need to step out?” The teacher asked gently.

She only just then realized she was crying.

So she got up, brushed past the teacher, and ran.

She ran and ran and ran, and didn’t stop even when she left the school. She just ran through the crowds on the Parisian streets, ducked into a quiet alley where no one would see, and kept running as Ladybug over the rooftops.

Eventually, when she couldn’t run anymore, she just collapsed on some roof and cried.

“Hey Bug.” A familiar, tired, nervous voice said. “What happened?”

Ladybug felt their hand on her back, carefully rubbing small circles with their thumb.

She remembered how, a week after Adrien died, another akuma had attacked, and she was forced to transform for the first time since then. She had been taken aback when she lifted her arm and saw black instead of the usual spots, but she was grateful. She really didn’t want to see the color red every time she looked at her own hands. The distinctive spots remained, of course, but they covered only her mask and torso. Her arms and legs were the same black as Chat Noir.

And of course she remembered the absolute worst part of it all. The salt rubbed in the wound. The twisting of the knife already so deep in her gut. That was the day someone else came out of the shadows in _his_ suit, wearing _his_ ring.

She didn’t even listen to them that day. She was too angry. She was angry at them, for daring to adopt her kitty’s mantle, and she was furious at Plagg, for choosing another kid just like that, as if Adrien didn’t even matter.

“Ladybug, please, talk to me.”

She screwed her eyes as tightly shut as she could and shook her head. She remembered being absolutely awful to them, even though they never showed her anything but earnest care and enthusiasm. “Why do you like me, kid?” She felt her voice break as she tried to talk through her tears. “I’m so…”

“Brave, kind, smart.” Chat Noir said easily. “But most of all, you’re the only one who’s ever actually listened to me.” They shrugged. “My family doesn’t really… _get_ the ‘not a boy or girl’ thing. You’re the only one who’s ever called me ‘they’ instead of ‘him’. It… I feel like _me_ when I’m with you.”

Ladybug felt like she’d choke on her own tears. _Adrien said something similar, once._ She shook her head, trying to force all thoughts of him out.

It wasn’t the first time the new Chat Noir saw her cry, but like every time before she swore it’d be the last. Because try as she might, she couldn’t see them as anything but just another kid. She was Ladybug, a hero, and if anything she thought Adrien was too grown up for his own good being alone for a long while. They had seen innocent people get turned into mummies and enslaved. They had seen people get used as nothing more than experience points. They had even seen each other die (or believed it at the time, anyway). They had been through too much, seen too much.

But the new Chat Noir was nothing more than a child. She had to be strong for them, to be a role model for them, even if the light glinting off their brass bell made her chest hurt and her stomach flip when she caught it in the corner of her eye.

Looking more directly only made her heart ache, so Ladybug preferred eye contact with them when she had to, and no looking at all when she didn’t. Their eyes were the only part of the entire outfit that actually changed. Instead of the brilliant green that matched Adrien’s eyes, the new Chat’s eyes were a much less impressive color. Mostly brown, though the sclera adopted an amber color more reminiscent of black cats Marinette sometimes saw around the city.

“Come on, Bug.” They said, offering her their free hand.

“No.” She said, shaking her head vehemently. “No, I’m sorry, I-” She stood, breaking contact with him and backing away. _Don’t get attached. Don’t let them comfort you._ She hastily rubbed at her eyes, a feat made awkward and painful by the suit she wore. “I have to go.”

She turned and ran before they could say anything. Again.

It seemed all she could do those days was run. Somewhere deep down, she hoped that maybe if she just ran far enough, or fast enough, she’d escape the terror of reality that haunted her every step.

Marinette found a place tucked away in the city. She sat and cried, just taking solace in the fact that there was no one there. It was quiet. She thought with bitterness how she never really enjoyed the quiet. It was too uneasy, too fragile. Plus, with her precious kitty around, the odds of her getting some quiet were slim to none until he fell asleep (like a cat, curled up into a ball or sprawled out haphazardly, and always in the warmest spot in the room).

She covered her mouth to try and muffle her sobs.

But Marinette didn’t like to waste time. She steadied her breathing, dried her eyes, and started walking home. As she walked, she couldn’t help but think about how much she hated the city. Everything was too bright, too vivid. It felt wrong, rude, disrespectful.

She shut out the world, pulling her overshirt taught against her body and crossing her arms as she lowered her head.

The next akuma attack was just the next day. Marinette wasted no time.

“What’s the deal, Bug?” Chat Noir asked as they arrived just a minute later than she had.

“Switcheroo, apparently.” She said in a monotone. “He’s been screaming about how no one understands his feelings.

“Oh.” Chat’s brow furrowed. “Powers?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’ll just have to be careful then.”

Ladybug didn’t answer. She just took off, knowing they’d be right behind her, and began her attack on the akuma.

She didn’t joke anymore. With the new Chat Noir, she worked efficiently, properly. There was no fluff, no slacking off, no needless distractions.

_Not like with Adrien._

“Bug, watch out!” Ladybug blinked, and her vision was filled with a blinding light, a pulse of energy sent by Switcheroo straight towards her.

She knew it was too close to dodge, but she noticed out of the corner of her eye, Chat was running for her, reaching out to push her out of the line of fire.  
She knew he’d never make it.

Lucky for her, the energy didn’t do anything. Or she would’ve thought at first, but she knew better than to think that anymore. So it didn’t surprise her much when Chat touched her shoulder, looked at her with the most _broken_ expression she’d ever seen, and sunk to their knees in tears.

“That’s right.” Switcheroo taunted. “You had no idea how your partner felt, did you?” Chat shook his head violently, scrubbing harshly at their eyes even though they didn’t seem even close to stopping the tears. “Now you know her heartbreak. Now you know how much easier you have it!”

Ladybug felt her anger flare into rage. She glared at Switcheroo, harsh enough that even he hesitated before continuing his attack.

Ladybug returned it with vigor. She was vicious, moving in initially and feinting to sucker-punch him in the jaw. “Don’t you _dare_ hurt my partner.” She said through clenched teeth. “No one should go through what I have.” As Switcheroo nursed his jaw, Ladybug gave him a swift kick in the stomach. “They don’t deserve that! Chat doesn’t deserve that!”

Switcheroo deflected one of her attacks in her emotional state, and turned the tables quickly with his own kick, which had her sprawled on her back a few feet away from him. “They _all_ deserve it! They don’t understand, so they should feel it like we do!”

“No one deserves pain!”

“You just don’t understand.” Switcheroo growled darkly. “Do you know what it’s like to be abused? To be hurt over and over like you’re _nothing_?” He pulled out a long dagger, and brandished it dangerously as he approached. “I’ll make sure you understand what it feels like. Then I’ll take your miraculous.”

Switcheroo didn’t manage to take another step before Chat pounced on him. “As if I’d let you hurt my friend!” They shouted, wrestling with Switcheroo for the dagger. Chat was on top of him, pushing his hands and the weapon up over Switcheroo’s head to pin them to the ground.

But Switcheroo moved the hand that wasn’t tightly gripping the dagger to Chat’s side, and bucked his hips to throw them off, pushing roughly so they fell sideways off of him. He rolled, moving the dagger down and sinking it deep into Chat’s side.

Ladybug wasted no time. She tackled Switcheroo on the spot and scratched and tore at anything that could even possibly contain the akuma.

She didn’t even waste enough time to cleanse the akuma. The moment she saw it leave Switcheroo’s necklace, she rushed to Chat’s side instead.

“No…” She felt her voice break. The world was too vibrant, too saturated. “Not again.”

Chat yowled in pain.

Ladybug watched helplessly as the world drained. Everything was so familiar. The oversaturated colors, red of blood, bright amber of eyes blinking back tears, sharp green of grass below them, fell away. Everything was too familiar, but this time instead of overwhelming hues blending together and giving her a headache, instead of loud, mournful yells and screams and all the complaints of injustice in the world, this time everything became muted, greyed, achromatic, and things went quietly, numbly, even as Chat cried.

Eight minutes and thirty-four seconds later, in a hospital nearby, a young doctor declared dead a boy by the name of Garret Morales. Cause of death: Exsanguination due to a knife wound. Carried in by Ladybug at 4:39pm, declared dead 4:45pm.

Ladybug just cradled Plagg to her chest, hiding him in her arms as she held herself just as much as the kwami, and politely informed the doctor to please use they/them pronouns. “They were actually non-binary.” She said numbly, staring off at the last place she had been allowed to see them, before they had turned the corner and she was stuck alone down the hall in the too-bright, colorless white hospital waiting room.

Ladybug spent the rest of her transformation in that room, just wasting time.


End file.
